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Grants Pass woman fighting H1N1 flu dies at Portland hospital

GRANTS PASS — Joetta Brummett, who was stricken with the H1N1 flu virus less than a month ago, died on Sunday at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

The 50-year-old Grants Pass woman did not regain consciousness after doctors attempted to bring her out of a medically induced coma, more than a week ago. Her kidneys failed, and she had fluid in her lungs.

“There was just no change,” her son, Ben Sharrard of Grants Pass, told the Daily Courier this morning. “When we sat down with the doctors on Saturday we just knew things weren’t going to change. We knew it was time for her to go home. She hung on until all her boys got up there to be with her.”

Sharrard and other family members, including his two brothers, were with Brummett when she died.